GAO S EXECUTIVE EXCHANGE PROGRAM: PROJECTS FOR PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES (As of January 9, 2006)

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1 GAO S EXECUTIVE EXCHANGE PROGRAM: PROJECTS FOR PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES (As of January 9, 2006) ISSUE AREA TEAM PROJECTS Acquisition Workforce Leading Practice. Identify best practice used in the private sector for developing and maintaining an effective acquisition workforce. Specifically, (1) how have leading companies transformed their human capital strategy for their procurement and supply management functions; (2) what are leading practices for their workforce's educational backgrounds, experience, and professional certification; (3) how does their workforce continue their professional education; and (4) what are commercial best practice for bench marking acquisition staffing levels? Acquisition and Sourcing Management (ASM) Katherine Schinasi schinasik@gao.gov Skills/Experience Sought: Knowledge of human capital and acquisition workforce management. Performance Budgeting and Performance Measurement. Develop a methodology for GAO analysts to use in assessing risk in agencies they audit. Skills/Experience Sought: Person selected should be an accountant or other specialist working on the practical frontier of performance budgeting and performance management. Applied Research and Methods (ARM) Nancy Kingsbury KingsburyN@gao.gov and Strategic Issues (SI) Chris Mihm MihmJ@gao.gov Disability Modeling. Assist with looking at models the private sector uses that may have elements applicable to federally-funded programs. Skills/Experience Sought: Knowledge of private disability insurance, workers compensation, and vocational rehabilitation. Education Workforce and Income Security (EWIS) Cynthia Fagnoni FagnoniC@gao.gov Retirement Modeling. Advance understanding of the implications for the private sector and for corporate defined benefit (DB) pension plans of various proposed changes to DB funding rules. Also, help explore options for enabling seasoned workers to stay in the workforce; this assignment requires expertise from a company that has developed phased retirement strategies. 1

2 Skills/Experience Sought: Corporate defined benefits plan knowledge. Workforce Development Modeling. Advance understanding of the implications for the private sector and for corporate defined benefit (DB) pension plans Examine some of the issues raised in the CG Forum on 21 st Century workforce challenges. For example, EWIS plans to examine private sector workforce development models, such as those aimed at enhancing and modernizing worker skills. Some private sector models may show promise either as alternatives to current publicly-funded approaches, or could inform publicly-funded approaches. Skills/Experience Sought: Experience in workforce development. Supply Chains Analysis. Analyze private sector practices to: 1) Assess the responsiveness of their supply chains, 2) Select appropriate performance measures, and 3) Assess how an organizational culture can be established that makes supply chain improvements based on performance measures. Defense Capabilities and Management (DCM) Butch Hinton Skills/Experience Sought: Knowledge of supply chain management. Consolidated Financial Statement Audit & Other Audit issues. Assist in developing a suggested set of protocols for GAO, as the principal auditor, and agency auditors to use to interact efficiently during the audit of the government-wide consolidated financial statement (CFS). Skills/Experience Sought: Mid-level CPA in a public accounting firm with executive potential. Accounting White Papers. Financial Management and Assurance (FMA) Jeffrey Steinhoff and Jeanette Franzel SteinhoffJ@gao.gov FranzelJ@gao.gov Refer or Rely on Other Auditors Work: Prepare a white paper that identifies the issues associated with each scenario and fully discusses the levels of involvement by the principal auditor in the audit work conducted by other auditors. This paper will help us determine scope of work for future audits when GAO is ready to render an opinion on the CFS. Auditing Property, Plant, and Equipment on a Government-Wide Basis: Develop an issue paper to identify the accounting and auditing issues related to PP&E on a government-wide basis and include a full disclosure of alternative audit approaches for auditing PP&E, primarily at Department of Defense. Fiscal Condition: Prepare a white paper that identifies options for reporting fiscal exposures and other aspects of fiscal condition in the U.S. government s annual financial report. 2

3 Fairly Presented Versus Presented Fairly: Develop a white paper containing a full discussion of the differences between such concepts and provide the pros and cons of adopting each concept. Skills/Experience Sought: Mid-level CPA in a public accounting firm with executive potential. Audit Standards Setting. Research issues and propose updates to the Yellow Book. Also, identify emerging areas where the standards may need to be updated or changed and conduct research necessary to make attendant updates to the current Yellow Book. These issues could include restatements of financial statements, clarify auditor requirements, recognition of PCAOB and IAASB as standard setters, peer review requirements, and language dealing with internal control reporting. Skills/Experience Sought: Mid-level CPA in a public accounting firm with executive potential and strong communication skills or a senior level specialist on professional standards. Standards Setting. Provide technical expertise, advice, and input on a number of standards setting initiatives that GAO is involved in, including the PCAOB Oversight Board s Advisory Group, the AICPA s Task Forces, and IFAC/IAASB working groups. This includes reviewing briefing packages, responding to questions in preparation for meetings, commenting on exposure drafts and other documents, and framing and presenting GAO s position. Skills/Experience Sought: Mid-level CPA in a public accounting firm with executive potential and strong communication skills or a senior level specialist on professional standards. Risk Management Evaluation. Assist team in evaluating and understanding risk management in financial institutions & markets. Skills/Experience Sought: Experience in evaluating risk management in such entities as rating agencies, financial institutions compliance departments, or similar institutions. Information Sharing Strategic Plan. GAO is currently developing a targeted strategic plan on information sharing, including one for first responders. While the key GAO staff can develop a framework, he/she will provide an outside analysis of what's been done, what else is going on in the arena, and what areas might GAO focus on in the next months. Financial Markets and Community Investment (FMCI) Rick Hillman HillmanR@gao.gov Homeland Security and Justice (HSJ) Norm Rabkin and Eileen Larence RabkinN@gao.gov 3

4 Skills/Experience Sought: Understanding of law enforcement cultures, as well as experience and knowledge of what has been done in the information sharing arena. Assessing Federal Agency IT Effectiveness. Help GAO assess IT practices and effectiveness by analyzing the products generated from the private sector. Also, 1) Collaborate with GAO staff in assessing the adequacy of best practice or evaluation guides and adapt or augment that material as appropriate. 2) Develop new guidance based on reviews of literature, interviews with academics and industry experts, and the visiting executives' own expertise. Information Technology (IT) Joel Willemssen gov Skills/Experience Sought: Diverse IT experience. Continuity of Operations Planning For Pandemic(s) & Other Biosecurity Threats. A pandemic, or worldwide outbreak of a new influenza virus, could overwhelm our health and medical capabilities, potentially resulting in hundreds of thousand of deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars in direct and indirect costs. Because planning and preparedness during an inter-pandemic period are the keys to an effective response, information is needed on private sector organizations' business continuity planning for a possible pandemic. Strategic Issues (SI) Chris Mihm MihmJ@gao.gov While there has been significant attention paid to planning for disasters affecting the physical assets of organizations, there has been less attention paid to planning for events that would have similar consequences but affect peopleonly and not the physical assets of the organization. For example, a recent survey of U.S. companies conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found that 66 percent of respondents said their company had not adequately planned to protect itself from a pandemic flu outbreak. Other examples of people-only events could include widespread unavailability of public transportation or employee unwillingness to risk using public transportation causing high absenteeism. This effort will be a central part of a larger GAO-wide strategy to assist the Congress and the executive branch in ensuring that the Nation is prepared for an able to respond to a possible pandemic. Skills/Experience Sought: Continuity of operations planning experience. A background in public-private sector partnerships and networks, intergovernmental relations and/or public health, emergency preparedness is desirable. Methodology Development on Back Office Cost Saving and Reduction Strategies. Develop methodology for determining administrative cost-savings opportunities. Skills/Experience Sought: Experience in developing cost saving and reduction strategies for the back office /administrative/mission support functions. We re seeking individuals with experience in designing strategies for 4

5 a shared services approach. Methodology Development on Federal Locations Policy. Develop methodologies for determining the federal presence/organizational location policy. Skills/Experience Sought: Experience in determining how an organization s physical presence is determined, especially in an age of technology and citizen interaction with business through the web. Methodology Development on Market Based Pay. Develop methodologies for examining the transition to market based pay across government. Skills/Experience Sought: Experience in market based pay systems. Methodology Development on Labor Relations. Develop methodologies for assessing labor relations management, identifying best practices, and targets of opportunities. Skills/Experience Sought: Experience in successful labor management relations. Fiscal Exposures and Off-Balance Sheet Risk Analysis. Analyze U.S. Government s financial condition with particular focus on public debt, long-term fiscal exposure, and offbalance sheet obligations and risk. Analyze how the U.S. Government s financial condition compares with other developed countries and identify what measures, if any, have been/are being taken to make off-balance sheet obligations more transparent and minimize risk. Skills/Experience Sought: Expertise in macro-economic analysis, international finance, and country risk assessments. Chief Operating Officer/Chief Management Officer Concept & The Public Sector. There is a growing awareness of the need for federal agencies to elevate, integrate and institutionalize leadership for transformational change and functional management (e.g., IT, financial management, human capital, strategic planning, acquisition, and sourcing strategies, etc). One model that has been suggested is the creation of Chief Operating Officer/Chief Management Officer (COO/CMO) positions in selected agencies. Such positions would be non-political and would be subject to a performance contract for up to 5-7 years with bonuses tied to achievement of goals in the contract. Research is needed on: 1) Domestic and foreign models of public sector organizations that use the COO/CMO model. 2) The strength and weaknesses of such an approach and how and where it can be applied to U. S. federal agencies. 5

6 3) Other approaches and mechanisms that can be used to elevate, integrate, and institutionalize leadership for transformational change and functional management. Skills/Experience Sought: Person selected should have a background in management consulting, with expertise in strategy and leadership development, change management, and organizational transformation. AGENCY-WIDE OFFICE PROJECTS GAO s Financial Management System Update & Implementation. Help GAO in (1) planning its financial management system update and (2) overseeing the implementation of the new system. Participant will serve as an advisor to the FMS Project Manager. Ideally, the person selected should be able to serve for about a year in the exchange program. Skills/Experience Sought: Financial management system implementation experience. Information Technology (IT) Governance Process Review. Assist GAO in reviewing its own IT governance process in comparison to industry best practices, including: IT management system project and programs, budget and human capital. IT life cycle and performance metrics IT security, configuration management, quality assurance. Controller/ Administrative Services Office (CASO) George Strader StraderG@gao.gov CAO Tony Cicco CiccoA@gao.gov Skills/Experience Sought: Diverse IT experience. Mission and Job Process Review & Streamlining. Aid GAO in the simplification and streamlining of its job processes. Skills/Experience Sought: Business process reengineering experience. Communications & Product Development Review. Examine communications products from organizations similar to GAO and develop a resource of benchmark products to improve GAO s products. Quality and Continuous Improvement (QCI) Tim Bowling BowlingT@gao.gov Skills/Experience Sought: Multi-media communications production experience. 6